In which we examine grifting, large and small, among states like Texas, Mississippi and Wisconsin.

Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what's goin' down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin' gets done, and where, if I had a conscience, I might blow my top.

We begin in Texas, where the reigning political ecology seems to be driven by a kind of Reverse Political Darwinism fairly summed up by the phrase, "Hey, There's Always Someone Worse." First, there was C-Plus Augustus. Then, there was the still-indicted Governor Goodhair. Then, here came Greg Abbott, whose lieutenant-governor, Dan Patrick, is nuttier than Abbott ever thought of being. And then, there is this Ken Paxton fellow, who is the Attorney General, and he's proof enough that this barrel is fairly well bottomless. Paxton was one of the first out of the gate to advise local officials to nullify the Supreme Court's ruling on marriage equality.

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"Friday, the United States Supreme Court again ignored the text and spirit of the Constitution to manufacture a right that simply does not exist. In so doing, the Court weakened itself and weakened the rule of law, but did nothing to weaken our resolve to protect religious liberty and return to democratic self-government in the face of judicial activists attempting to tell us how to live. "Indeed, for those who respect the rule of law, this lawless ruling presents a fundamental dilemma: A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court is considered the law of the land, but a judge-made edict that is not based in the law or the Constitution diminishes faith in our system of government and the rule of law.

Special prosecutor Kent Schaffer told News 8 Wednesday afternoon that the Texas Rangers uncovered new evidence during the investigation that led to the securities fraud allegations against the sitting attorney general. "The Rangers went out to investigate one thing and they came back with information on something else," Schaffer told News 8. "It's turned into something different than when they started." Schaffer, a Houston criminal defense attorney, said the securities fraud allegations involve amounts well in excess of $100,000. He declined to comment specifics of the fraud allegations.A first-degree felony is punishable by up to life in prison.

I am assuming that, in this context, the "Texas Rangers" does not mean that Paxton one day will be busted by Yu Darvish. Classic.

(Thanks to friend o' the blog, Glenn Smith, for passing this one along.)

Elsewhere, over in Mississippi Goddamn, the state government is tying itself in knots over the same issue. Governor Phil Bryant wants the state to keep fighting the losing battle, but his Democratic A.G. seems to have a limited appetite for angry futility.

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In Tuesday's filing, the lawyers from Hood's office who are representing Bryant asked to withdraw as counsel for Bryant, writing, "Because [Hood and Bryant] have differing views regarding how to respond to the [same-sex couples]' motion and the Court's letter request," everyone — Hood, Bryant, and the lawyers — agrees that they "should withdraw as counsel for Defendant-Appellant Bryant, and proceed solely as counsel for Defendant-Appellant Hood going forward in this litigation." Hood's office also filed a letter with the court urging the court to enter an order ending the state's marriage ban, in accordance with the Supreme Court's June 26 decision striking down marriage bans in four other states.

Can't anyone sell an argument about wasteful government spending on this nonsense? Some poor woman uses her food stamps to buy a Coke and half the state goes into high-sterics, but Governor Phil will pile up billable hours bringing cases that he's already lost. It's like a really bad time paradox.

So we drift northward to the newly insane state of North Carolina, where the state budget, as is the case in many states currently d/b/a subsidiaries of corporate America, is chockful of lovely little candied land mines.

The provision, which would repeal the State Fair Housing Act and shut down the state office that investigates discrimination complaints, was buried deep in the 500-plus budget (pages 390-391) that was made public and quickly passed the chamber last week. The elimination of the state anti-discrimination measures got no attention during debates when the budget passed the Republican-controlled Senate last Thursday. The move to repeal the state's Fair Housing Act would also eliminate the N.C. Human Relations Commission, which is funded partly with federal funds and tasked with investigating and pursuing legal claims of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or disability when it comes to housing, employment and civil rights violations.

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You may recall that Justice Anthony Kennedy saved the federal Fair Housing Act at the end of last week. This is why we keep an eye on the Labs every week. These are the places where the real mischief gets done.

Another one of those places is Wisconsin, where the friends of Scott Walker are doing their damndest to clear the decks of all the encrusted corruption before the goggle-eyed homunculus announces for president in a couple of weeks. You see, there is this woman named Kelly Rindfleisch who had the misfortune of working for Walker during his time as Milwaukee county executive. History has shown that, in terms of staying out of the sneezer, it was safer to have worked for the Gambinos. Rindfleisch ended up in jail for having aided Walker in his steady grift up the food chain. The state's Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal. But the friends of Scott Walker are not so easily discouraged.

On Thursday, a memo was filed from Gableman asking that the high court revisit the issue when it next meets in private. He did not explain why he wants to take the issue up in his one-paragraph memo. Such a move is highly unusual, if not unprecedented. The original decision not to take the case was agreed to by all the justices except David Prosser, who did not participate in the case. The court did not explain its March decision why it would not to take the case, following its usual practice for such matters. arlier this month, Rindfleish asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up her case. She contends search warrants for her emails were so broad as to be unconstitutional. Gableman is one of the four conservative justices who control the seven-member court.

Gableman, who has his own problems, backed down when it all hit the fan, but this episode does serve as a useful reminder of how thoroughly Scott Walker has made the institutions of government complicit in the penny-ante-scams he hopes to ride into the White House.

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And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma, whence Official Blog Sodbuster Friedman Of The Plains brings us the continuing saga of Bob Bates, elderly crime-buster of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Department, which seems to have repurposed itself into Expedia.com with guns.

While jail operations ran deficits, Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz and his employees spent more than $500,000 during the past three years on travel and training — much of it from jail funds — ordering cheesecake and ice cream via room service, paying $36 daily valet parking fees and billing taxpayers $500 per night for a resort stay with golf and afternoon tea, an investigation by The Frontier shows. The Frontier reviewed travel claims by Glanz's office since 2009 and found numerous questionable expenses and a few potential violations of the county's travel policy, including Glanz's trip to a lavish resort with his former undersheriff, Tim Albin. Among the beneficiaries of the travel largesse was Reserve Deputy Robert Bates, Glanz's longtime friend, who became a wealthy benefactor to TCSO.

This is really nice work if you can get it. It's hard to believe Chris Christie never was a sheriff in Tulsa.

This is your democracy, America. Cherish it.

The provision, which would repeal the State Fair Housing Act and shut down the state office that investigates discrimination complaints, was buried deep in the 500-plus budget (pages 390-391) that was made public and quickly passed the chamber last week.The elimination of the state anti-discrimination measures got no attention during debates when the budget passed the Republican-controlled Senate last Thursday.The move to repeal the state's Fair Housing Act would also eliminate the N.C. Human Relations Commission, which is funded partly with federal funds and tasked with investigating and pursuing legal claims of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or disability when it comes to housing, employment and civil rights violations.

- See more at: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2015/06/25/senate-budget-also-took-aim-at-anti-discrimination-law/#sthash.61PhJziE.dpuf

The provision, which would repeal the State Fair Housing Act and shut down the state office that investigates discrimination complaints, was buried deep in the 500-plus budget (pages 390-391) that was made public and quickly passed the chamber last week.The elimination of the state anti-discrimination measures got no attention during debates when the budget passed the Republican-controlled Senate last Thursday.The move to repeal the state's Fair Housing Act would also eliminate the N.C. Human Relations Commission, which is funded partly with federal funds and tasked with investigating and pursuing legal claims of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or disability when it comes to housing, employment and civil rights violations.

- See more at: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2015/06/25/senate-budget-also-took-aim-at-anti-discrimination-law/#sthash.61PhJziE.dpuf

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